My media product uses, develops and challenges the conventions in very different ways. My media product utilizes most of the
standard conventions within a trailer; it showcases the main stars of our film for the majority of the trailer allowing the audience to
build a connection with them. This is likely to
create a hook and make them want to see the film.
Key points of the film are conveyed through the use of titles. These titles convey the narrative and plot of the full film allowing the audience to know what the full film will contain but without ruining the plot, instead creating a sense of mystery. They also use the same font as the film’s logo
aiding continuity within the franchise and creating a theme.
Examples of the title's used.
Conversations between the characters usually consist of
one liners, this convention is used as to maximise the comic and action packed aspects of the trailer being a hybrid genre, this convention was addressed early on in the script writing phase of our trailer, in which me and my partner worked effectively to write several gags were
simple and fast paced.
Music creates a strong role in creating an atmosphere. The song “
Stay Down” by the English rock band “
The Black Spiders” was chosen for a few reasons; firstly this type of music is likely to appeal to our audience and meets a line of not being too heavy to exclude the average listener and heavy enough to capture fans of hard rock and heavy metal. The second reason for the choice of this song was to match the pace of the trailer and to create a sense of excitement it combines with the quick cuts to increase feelings of tensions in the audience who are waiting for a climax. The song also works under
Barthes principal of
anchorage. Lyrically the song fits the narrative and back story of the trailer. Lyrics such as “
Hands up gather round.” Connote the message that the audience need to sit back and watch the trailer, enjoying the spectacle. The lyrics “
There is a brand new force in town” and “
Brute strength you clowns” connote the message of our superheroes. Do it yourself crime fighting without remorse
The trailer builds to
climax and then ends creating maximum impact on the audience. This convention is almost used universally within trailers with all of the music, pace of editing and actual content of the shots working in
relay to create this excitement. This is done to literally leave the audience on the
edge of their seat creating a hook. Then the titles appear at the end of the film this is done for two reasons firstly to create a sense of mystery within the trailer and capturing the audience’s attention as they are far more likely to want to know the title of the film and secondly it plays a role of the big reveal when the audience is most likely to be engaged and paying attention to the trailer this means they are most likely to
remember the title and possibly the release date.
A
montage of different shots containing different types setting and content are also used to show the wide diversity of the film and present to the audience the fact the film has a positive narrative with progression without actually telling them the story doing so would make seeing the film pointless. Montages can also show the passage of time or
growth within characters over the course of the film. One of the most iconic montages is the
training montage from the first rocky film.
However numerous genre conventions were developed and challenged in my media trailer being a
hybrid genre superhero action, comedy film. Two particular changes can be identified within our text the fact our heroes are
not in costume was an idea developed from audience research, our audience had a preference towards grittier films such as
Harry Brown. Deciding not to give our heroes costumes removes the comical effect they normally have within such features; a good example of this is the
green swimming suit in kick ass:
Secondly our characters were not given guns as to firstly play into the do it yourself vigilante aspect of the film, secondly the fact that weapons such as a pitchfork and a Molotov cocktail are shown in the trailer play into the
gritty element of audience feedback, guns would have unbalanced the equilibrium of the characters giving them far too much power and finally the use of things such as the pitchfork imply graphic violence which supports the gritty feel of the film.
